The first place Lao Tan went to was his eldest sister's house.
The eldest sister was born at the head and grew up at the head, so she suffered the most and contributed the most to the family. Her father passed away early, so it was the eldest sister and her mother who supported the family and brought up the younger ones little by little.
The younger sisters have great respect for the eldest sister. Every time Lao Tan comes back, the other sisters may not have time to go, but it is necessary to go to the eldest sister's house.
There are still five days until the winter solstice, the day of eating dumplings. It is guaranteed to be busy that day. Lao Tan first called Hua Qing and Wang Hong and asked them to prepare in advance and prepare at least a thousand copies of dumplings.
Wang Hong and Lao Tan had experienced the winter solstice when they were working in Binhai. They had experience and said that they had already started to prepare and told him to rest assured.
I called Li Shuang again and told her that employees were not allowed to rest on the Winter Solstice and all employees must be on duty. Then I called Yanhua and told her to buy more raw materials in the past few days.
After making arrangements for work, I went to my eldest sister’s house with my son.
The eldest sister’s home is on the last street at the west end of Fuyingzi, Nanguang, and her son Lan Jun’s home is in the east and west courtyards. Both houses have four bungalows with a large courtyard and a river. There are two garages at the entrance, one for Lan Jun’s car.
A magnified version of my brother-in-law’s electric tricycle.
To the east of the yard is a vegetable garden. There is nothing in the garden now, but in summer it is full of fruits. To the west is a row of five wing rooms. From left to right are a pig house, a donkey shed, a thatched house, a grain house, and a spare room. The yard
Parked in the middle were an agricultural three-wheeler and a large four-wheeler, with a rotary cultivator next to them.
There are four main rooms with three steps, and a flower wall guardrail in front. When this house was built, Lao Tan had just dropped out of high school, and he went out to work after helping to build the house.
As soon as they walked up the steps, the eldest sister, eldest brother-in-law, Lan Jun's wife, and Lan Jun's children came out of the house and welcomed Lao Tan into the house with smiles on their faces.
Lao Tan's second sister and second brother-in-law had arrived early and were sitting on the kang eating melon seeds.
Lao Tan said to his second brother-in-law: "You came early enough."
The second brother-in-law said: "Lan Jun picked me up first, and then I picked you up after that."
Lao Tan asked: "Why didn't you pick me up as soon as possible?"
Lan Jun smiled and said: "I thought about it and brought my grandma here. If my grandma came, wouldn't she be able to sit in the car? I didn't expect her to come."
At this time, Sister Lao Tan said: "Your grandma feels that there are too many people and she is used to being quiet, so she is staying at your aunt's house and is not going anywhere." Then she asked: "If your grandma doesn't come, why don't you take your aunt's home?"
Are your parents-in-law coming to pick you up?"
Lan Jun said: "My aunt and grandma are not coming, so I will stay with my grandma at home. My husband will go out today to attend the ceremony."
"What about your old uncle?" Sister Lao Tan asked.
"Come later, I'll go to Heichengzi to do some errands with his classmate. My aunt will come over after school at noon. I'll pick her up then," Lan Jun said.
Brother-in-law Lao Tan handed over the cigarettes. Lao Tan smiled and asked, "You didn't serve dry cigarettes this year?"
"Waiting, what are you doing?" asked the eldest brother-in-law.
"Tangtang, I really want to." Lao Tan said.
Brother-in-law Lao Tan is good at making dry cigarettes, which are more flavorful and more energetic than paper cigarettes. Lao Tan has not smoked them for several years and wants to try them and savor them.
The eldest brother-in-law went to the back room and brought the cigarette basket, which contained ready-made cigarette paper. Old Tan picked up a handful of tobacco leaves, rubbed them, skillfully rolled a cigarette stick, lit it and took a puff.
"How's it going? I'm good at serving you, okay?" The eldest brother-in-law also rolled one up.
"It's very good. Is there honey in it?" Lao Tan asked.
"Well, it's honey water sprayed with some shredded tobacco." said the eldest brother-in-law.
"It's just right, and it's strong enough." Lao Tan said.
"I make some every year, which is enough for a year. I don't want to smoke paper cigarettes. They are tasteless. Dry cigarettes don't cause coughing and no phlegm. If you are willing to smoke some, it will be a lot." The eldest brother-in-law said.
Lao Tan smiled and said: "Just smoke some at home, it will be enjoyable. Lin Yan objects to my smoking, and even if she sees me rolling dry cigarettes, she has to kick me out."
While we were talking, Lao Tan and his brother-in-law came, and Lan Jun started playing mahjong. So the eldest brother-in-law, the old brother-in-law, the second sister, and Lan Jun went to the back room to play mahjong, and Lao Tan came to the outer room.
The eldest sister and daughter-in-law are busy preparing meals.
The chicken is stewed in the pot in the east room, and the sauerkraut is stewed in the pot in the west room. The daughter-in-law is frying meatballs, and the eldest sister is chopping celery.
Lao Tan took the kitchen knife from the eldest sister. The eldest sister wiped the handle with her apron, took a piece of meat and asked Lao Tan to finish cutting the celery.
In the first few years, life was difficult. I was afraid that guests would come to my house and I would not have anything to eat for them. Now that life is better, I have everything, and I can eat whatever I want. But when guests come, I am also worried, and I don’t know what to eat?
While the eldest sister was busy, she chatted with Lao Tan and asked about Lao Tan's situation in the provincial capital. Lao Tan explained in detail. When asked about Lin Yan, Lao Tan said: "She is doing well now and works in a logistics company.
Sunday off, four thousand yuan a month."
The eldest sister asked: "Logistics company? What do you do?"
"The one who transports the goods is the transportation company." Lao Tan thought for a while and said it in a way that the elder sister could understand.
"Can she drive?" the eldest sister asked.
"Well, she has a driver's license, but she doesn't drive and works in the office." Lao Tan said.
The eldest sister asked: "Have you visited your mother-in-law this year?"
Lao Tan said: "No ------"
"Go back and visit your mother-in-law's house. That's your mother too," the eldest sister said.
Lao Tan hummed.
"Does your mother-in-law still raise pigs?" the eldest sister asked.
"I'm raising fifty of them."
"That's quite a lot, enough for the old lady to keep busy. Your brother-in-law isn't married yet, right?"
"Nope."
"Your old mother-in-law still has to work and marry this old boy." The eldest sister sighed, and then said: "This time I come back and want to give your fifth sister's husband and old lady some money. She is also old, and our mother is at home.
"
Lao Tan said: "Well, I'm ready."
"Mom enjoys the blessings of your fifth sister. No one makes you angry. You can eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, and it is your fifth sister who takes care of the money for medicines and injections. Your fifth brother-in-law has no objection at all. Is your fifth brother-in-law right?
Our mother is as good as her son, and she can't find any faults. Logically speaking, you have to support her, and your fifth sister will relieve you of a lot of burdens, so you should be satisfied." said the eldest sister.
Lao Tan nodded.
"When you make money, give it to Mom. Even though Mom doesn't spend anything, doesn't it look good? Mom, don't worry about your fifth sister. Your fifth sister is patient and serves you better than us. I saw it, and we are the only ones.
Mom, with her physique, she can live to be a hundred years old, but thanks to her cultivation, there is nothing wrong with her body, she is in better shape than us, she is not stupid, and she can eat better than me."
Lao Tan smiled, put the chopped celery into a small basin, and began to cut the meat.
"You're going back after celebrating Mom's birthday? Are you not celebrating the New Year at home?" asked the eldest sister.
"I won't celebrate the New Year at home," Lao Tan replied.
"Okay, now that the Chinese New Year is going well, your second sister and I will go to your fifth sister's house to have fun on the second day of the Lunar New Year, and then we will all come to my house on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. This will happen every year," the eldest sister said.
“It’s still fun to celebrate the New Year at home,” Lao Tan said.
"You can't come back, right? Kill the pigs in the twelfth lunar month. This time you and your family will be able to eat pork."
Lao Tan smiled and said, "You can eat from several restaurants."
Jiaheng came in from outside with his elder sister's big yellow cat in his arms and said to elder sister Lao Tan: "Auntie, is there anything to eat? I want to feed the big yellow cat."
The eldest sister smiled and said to the eldest nephew: "You don't mind it, so there is no need to feed it. It will be full in the morning."
"Isn't it noon? I guess it's hungry already." Jiaheng said, looking for a reason to feed the cat.
The eldest sister looked around and took two fried meatballs to her eldest nephew.
Jiaheng put the big yellow cat on the ground, held the meatball in his hand and said to the cat: "Big yellow, come on, let's go into the house to eat."
The big yellow cat stared at the meatball in Jiaheng's hand, said "meow", and followed it into the back room.
Lao Tan's second brother-in-law didn't play mahjong. He watched the game in the back room for a while and then came out. He saw Lao Tan cutting meat and said, "Chef, let's show off your skills today."
"No, the food I cook is not delicious." Lao Tan said.
"We just want to try the chef's skills." said the second brother-in-law.
Lao Tan said: "If you want to try it, just wait and make one later. Don't you want to play mahjong?"
"If I don't play, I can't sit still. If I have that time, I might as well watch TV for a while, and the noise will be annoying." said the second brother-in-law.
The eldest sister said: "Your second brother-in-law doesn't play mahjong, but my father and I play it every day, day and night, so we just gave up our jobs and left." The eldest sister said, obviously opposed to playing mahjong.
"Did they come with the money?" Lao Tan asked.
"Nowadays, there is no way to waste time, but your eldest brother-in-law and his friends play small, that's what they mean. They don't have fifty yuan to win or lose a day, so they only play when they have free time in the winter, and they won't play when they are busy." The eldest sister said.
.
When it was almost twelve o'clock, Sister Lao Tan's daughter Lanzhi and her husband arrived in the car, and took the fifth sister Lao Tan over. The mahjong players declared a truce, and Lan Jun called the homes of Lao Tan's fourth sister and third sister.
Something happened at my sister's house, so my third sister and my third brother-in-law drove over soon.
There were two tables in total, one for men and one for women.
"It's so lively, so many people are eating." His son Jiaheng's little face turned red with excitement.
"More than your family, right?" Old Sister Tan asked.
"Well, there are just two people in my family, my mother and I. Sometimes my mother doesn't cook, so we go out to eat," Jia Heng said.
"What do you two eat, your mother?" the second sister asked.
"KFC."
"Does the food at home taste good?"
"No." The little guy's eyes lit up as he looked at the table full of delicious food, and said, "I decided not to go home. I will spend the New Year with my grandma here."